A Data Visualization Newsletter

President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden faced off in the first presidential debate of 2020 last week. FiveThirtyEight’s polling suggests that Biden generally received higher marks on his debate performance and his policy answers from voters. Still, neither candidate gained much in the way of support; the vast majority of voters who came in favoring Biden or Trump are sticking with their candidate.

The degradation of the Amazon rainforest continues. From rampant deforestation, to worsening wildfires, to troubling climate change, The New York Times’ Yaryna Serkez walks us through the numerous factors responsible for the Amazon’s rapid decline. If we don’t fight to save it now, the result could be catastrophic.

Counties across the U.S. are bracing for an influx of mail-in ballots this November. Primary elections held amid the pandemic give an early indication of what’s to come; In Kentucky, for instance, absentee voting jumped from 2% to 75% in the June primary. Rachael Dottle examines voting patterns in three major U.S. counties to see what an onslaught of mail-in ballots could mean on Election Day.

Here’s a project for all the ice cream lovers out there. Hesham Eissa and Lindsey Poulter dive deep into the 98 flavors of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and their popularity across the globe. They also examine which additions — chocolate chunks, cookie dough, caramel swirl, and others — are most often paired together.

With K-pop exploding in popularity over the last decade, many new fans have asked the same question: why are the groups so large? It’s become the norm for K-pop groups to have around 9 members, much more than Western boy bands, with some even rostering up to 23(!) total artists. This collaboration from The Pudding and Kontinentalist analyzes 30 years of K-pop data to understand why these groups got so big, and how each member contributes.